1. هَل ذاكَ بدرٌ لاحَ تحتَ غمامِ

    أَم ذاكَ وجه أميم تحت لثامِ

    Is that a full moon appearing beneath clouds,

    or Umaym's face beneath a veil?

  2. بَل ذاكَ وجهُ أميم لاحَ فخلتهُ

    مِن تحتِ برقعها كبدر تمامِ

    Rather, Umaym's face appeared, and I thought it,

    from beneath her face-veil, like a moon at its fullest.

  3. آهاً لها مِن غادةٍ ما إن رنت

    إلّا رَمَت أكبادنا بسهامِ

    Ah, what a graceful maiden she is! No sooner does she gaze

    than she strikes our livers with arrows.

  4. كَم أَنهلَتني مِن مودّتها وكم

    مِنها أعلّتني بكأسِ غرامِ

    How often she gave me a first draught of her affection, and how often

    she gave me a second draught of it from a cup of passion!

  5. وَلَقد أغارُ على مَراشِفها إذا

    أَجرت على الرشفاتِ خوط بشامِ

    Indeed, I grow jealous over her lips when

    she runs a balsam twig over those lips.

  6. وَكأنّما في الطعمِ ريقةُ ثغرها

    ماءُ الغمامِ مصفّقاً بمدامِ

    And, in taste, the moisture of her mouth seems

    like water of the clouds mixed with wine.

  7. ماسَت فأخجلت القضي

    ب البان في خطراته بقوام

    She swayed, putting to shame the bough

    of the ben-tree in its swaying, with her figure.

  8. يا حبّها يومَ الوداعِ وحبّذا

    عهداً عَهِدناه أجلّ مقامِ

    How dear she was on the day of farewell, and how lovely

    a time we shared in the noblest of places!

  9. ظَلنا وقوفاً نَشتكي ألمَ الجوى

    في حالَ وقفتنا على الأقدامِ

    We remained standing, lamenting the pain of burning love,

    as we stood there upon our feet.

  10. نَشكو جوى الفُرقا ولم يك بيننا

    إلّا اِنسكابُ الدمعِ نطق كلامِ

    We lamented separation's anguish; between us there was

    no spoken word but the spilling of tears.

  11. وَالدمعُ بلَّ الخدّ منها مثل ما

    قَد بلّ زهرَ الورد طشُّ رهامِ

    Tears wetted her cheek, just as

    a sprinkling of drizzle had wetted the rose's blossom.

  12. لمّا رَأتني قَد عزمتُ على النوى

    وَشَددت رحلَ مطيّتي بخزامِ

    When she saw that I had resolved to depart

    and fastened my mount's saddle with a nose-rein,

  13. وَاِستيقنت منّي الرحيلَ غديّةً

    مِن بعدِ ما ودّعتها بسلامِ

    and knew for certain that I would leave in the morning,

    after I had bade her farewell with peace,

  14. قالَت وقَد أزفَ الرحيلُ إِلى مَتى

    تعتادُ قطعَ دكادكٍ وموامِ

    she said, as departure drew near, 'How long

    will you keep crossing flat sandy stretches and deserts?

  15. وَإِلى مَتى الغيبات عن وطنٍ وعن

    أَهلٍ إليكَ بهم غليل موامُ

    And how long these absences from a homeland and from

    family with a scorching thirst of longing for you?

  16. أَو ما تَرى الدُنيا وماضي عيشها

    إلّا كَأضغاثٍ من الأحلامِ

    Do you not see the world and its bygone life

    as nothing but tangled fragments of dreams?'

  17. فَأجبتها والبينُ يوجب بيننا

    ما كانَ مِن شرعٍ ومن أحكامِ

    I answered her, while separation imposed between us

    whatever there was of law and decrees:

  18. لا تكرهي لي غيبةً أَقضي بها

    منّي المآربَ قبل وقت حمامِ

    'Do not resent my absence, through which I fulfill

    my aims before death's appointed hour.

  19. وَاِستعصمي صبراً ولا تتألّمي

    منّي الوصال لربّما أحكامِ

    Hold fast to patience, and do not suffer

    because of me; reunion—perhaps—decrees [wording unclear].

  20. واِستَعصمي صبراً ولا تتألّمي

    إنّ الجَوى ضربٌ من الآلامِ

    Hold fast to patience, and do not suffer;

    burning love is a kind of pain.

  21. لابدّ لي مِن أن أكونَ مصابراً

    دهري وَما لاقيت من آلامِ

    I must steadfastly endure

    my fate and whatever pains I have met.

  22. لابدّ لي مِن أَن أفوّض حكمة

    تزري بما واشا أبو تمّامِ

    I must entrust wisdom

    that puts Abu Tammam's embellishments to shame,

  23. وأقلّد الأملاكَ منّي حليةً

    مطبوعةً بجواهرِ الأفهامِ

    and adorn kings with an ornament from me,

    crafted with the jewels of understanding.'

  24. قالت فإن يكُ لَم يكن بدٌّ فلا

    يغرركَ من تمّوز شيم جهامِ

    She said, 'If there is no alternative, then let not

    the sight of a rainless cloud in Tammuz deceive you.

  25. وَاِستغنِ عن سِمنٍ تراه وأنّه

    في كونهِ ورمٌ من الأورامِ

    And do without the plumpness you see, for it is

    in truth a swelling among swellings.

  26. وَاِقصد إِلى الزاكي فلاح فإنّه

    في المكرُمات إمام كلِّ إمامِ

    Go to the virtuous Falah, for he

    is, in noble deeds, the leader of every leader.

  27. وَاِستصفهِ بالمدحِ تحظى بالخلي

    جِ الزاخرِ المُتلاطمِ القمقامِ

    Win his favor with praise, and gain the gulf—

    brimming, wave-crashing, a vast, deep sea;

  28. بِالبدرِ بالشمس المنيرة بالهتو

    نِ الغيث بالمطعان بالمطعامِ

    the full moon, the radiant sun, the pouring

    rain, the fierce spearman, the bountiful feeder.'

  29. جاءَت بأفخر من وطى وجهَ الحصا

    وَالترب من عربٍ ومن أعجامِ

    She brought forward the noblest ever to tread the surface of pebbles

    and dust, among Arabs and non-Arabs.

  30. ملكٌ تخرّ لهُ الجبابرُ سجّداً

    في هالة الإجلالِ والإكرامِ

    A king before whom tyrants fall prostrate

    within a halo of reverence and honor,

  31. مُتطأطئينَ له هناك بأوجهٍ

    كانت تُصانُ عنِ الخضوعِ وهامِ

    bowing low before him there, with faces

    and heads once guarded against submission.

  32. صَعدت به رتبٌ عَلت حتّى عَلت

    في شأوِ مبلغها على بهرامِ

    Ranks raised him, soaring until they soared

    in their utmost reach above Bahram.

  33. غيثٌ وليثٌ في النوالِ وفي الوغا

    لِغداة جودٍ أَو غداةِ زحامِ

    Rain and a lion—in bounty and in battle—

    on a morning of giving or a morning of battle's press.

  34. كَم قَد أحاطَ تصرّفاً في ملكهِ

    منهُ عَلى الإقليمِ بالأقلامِ

    How fully, in administering his kingdom, has he encompassed

    the region with the reach of his pens!

  35. فَخُرت عمانُ بِه على مصر على

    يمنٍ فأرض عراقِها والشامِ

    Oman boasted of him over Egypt, over

    Yemen, then the lands of Iraq and Syria.

  36. حلّت له الأبكارُ أبكارُ العلا

    عقداً فهنَّ عليه غير حرامِ

    The virgins—the virgins of glory—became lawful to him

    by marriage contract; thus they are not forbidden to him.

  37. يا أيّها الملكُ الهمام ومن له

    في المكرماتِ يدين كلّ همامِ

    O valiant king, and you to whom

    every valiant man submits in noble deeds,

  38. اِسمَع فدتكَ نُفوسُنا يا بهجةَ ال

    أيّام يا من عصبة الإسلامِ

    listen—may our souls ransom you—O joy of the

    days, O you of Islam's fellowship.

  39. ليسَ العجيبُ ولا الكثيرُ يكون أن

    نفديكَ بالأرواح والأجسامِ

    It would be neither strange nor excessive that

    we ransom you with our souls and bodies.

  40. ليتَ الأذى متقبّل عند الفدا

    فَيكون لحمي أكله وعظامي

    Would that affliction would accept a ransom,

    so that my flesh and bones would be its food!

  41. وَالحمدُ للّه الغداة على الشفا

    مِن حادثِ الأمراض والأسقامِ

    Praise be to God this morning for recovery

    from the onset of illnesses and ailments.

  42. اللّه أكبر إنّ هذا اليوم في

    ما قَد رَأينا أفضل الأيّامِ

    God is greatest! This day, among

    all we have seen, is the best of days.

  43. يومٌ براهُ اللّه خير عنده

    مِن ألفِ شهرٍ عند ألفي عامِ

    A day God fashioned, better in His sight

    than a thousand months, beside two thousand years.

  44. مُذ غبت مُحتجباً كأنّ الدهر قد

    غَشيتهُ قدرة غيهبٍ وقتامِ

    Since you went away, hidden from sight, it was as though time had

    been veiled by the power of deep darkness and dusty gloom.

  45. فَالآن أصبحَ إِذ برئت منَ الأذى

    يَبدو بوجهٍ ضاحكٍ بسّامِ

    Now, since you have recovered from suffering, time has begun

    to show a laughing, smiling face.

  46. حتّى كأنّ الناسَ مِن فرحٍ به

    عَلقوا منَ الدُنيا بحبل ذمامِ

    So that it was as though the people, from joy in him,

    had clung to the world by a cord of protection.

  47. وَتكادُ صامتةُ الجمادِ تلحّ في

    تَهليلها للواحد العلّامِ

    And mute, inanimate things almost persist

    in proclaiming the oneness of the One, the All-Knowing.

  48. وَاِلبَث ودُم في نعمةٍ ومعزّةٍ

    ومسرّةٍ موصولةٍ بدوامِ

    Live on, and abide in blessing and honor,

    and in happiness that continues without end.